Step In The Right Direction For Alzheimer’s Disease

A release from the office of State Representative Michael Day:

Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia are particularly cruel afflictions that today affect more than 120,000 residents in Massachusetts alone. These individuals do not go through the battle against this insidious disease alone, and statistics show that more than 300,000 people in Massachusetts now act as caregivers to one of these patients. If you have an aging parent or relative, chances are you’ve personally come into contact with the effects of this disease, and experts predict that the prevalence of Alzheimer’s will increase an additional 25 percent over the next decade.

On the national level, studies estimate that one in three seniors dies with Alzheimer’s or related dementia. A full one half of Americans living with Alzheimer’s are never properly diagnosed with the disease, leading to a severely diminished quality of life and a sharp rise in health care costs. While there is no estimate of the costs incurred for treating people who suffer from undiagnosed dementia, we know that individuals suffering from the disease without proper diagnosis often make otherwise avoidable trips to urgent care facilities and involve our police and firefighters in emergency responses. We do know that Medicaid costs associated with caring
for people with Alzheimer’s totaled an estimated $1.55 billion in 2017 alone.

In the face of this public health crisis, I recently joined my colleagues in the House of Representatives in unanimously passing H.4116, an Act Relative to Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias. This legislation creates minimum training standards for social workers in the elder services area and establishes continuing education requirements for medical professionals that will improve the diagnosis and treatment of this disease. The bill also requires the Executive Office of Health and Human Services to conduct a comprehensive, “stem to stern” assessment of every program the state currently addresses Alzheimer’s treatment and to put together a comprehensive, statewide plan to address future efforts.

Importantly, the bill will grant physicians increased flexibility when sharing information related to the disease with a patient’s family that will increase care and treatment while still respecting privacy laws and norms. It also requires hospitals to create and implement a plan for recognizing and treating individuals with dementia within three years.

There are some treatments and medications that may slow the march of Alzheimer’s but there is currently no known cure for this sinister disease. We see ads on the television proclaiming that the first person to beat Alzheimer’s is already alive and we know that there are a number of research trials underway in the race to find a cure. While promising, these efforts do little to ease the pain of those individuals who now suffer from the disease or their family members who witness the daily deterioration of their loved ones. Watching someone who raised you become distant from you because they no longer recognize you or because they are so easily disoriented is a heart-wrenching ordeal that brings sadness and anger into a loving family. This legislation is designed to substantially improve the quality of life for individuals and families living with the
disease.

In a time where national elected leaders are gutting healthcare and science is seemingly under siege, I am proud to serve in a House of Representatives that is leading the effort to focus on this terrible disease and expedite the effort to find a cure. This legislation now moves to the State Senate and then hopefully to the Governor for consideration. I look forward to the day this act is signed into law as one that will bring great relief to hundreds of thousands of our residents.